PokerStars unveils Macau Poker Cup Championship

by Fred LeungPokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa is proud to host the Macau Poker Cup Championship (MPCC) from November 2-7, 2010. The MPCC is the grand finale for Asia's premiere poker series and features the HKD $20,000 buy-in Main Event with a HKD $3,500,000 guarantee.

Last year, PokerStars sponsored player Devan Tang from Hong Kong won the inaugural MPCC Main Event and bested a field of 158 players to win HKD $727,600 in prize money. The prize pool was HKD $3,000,000 and PokerStars Macau expects to well exceed that number in 2010.

Devan Tang

"The growth and popularity of the Macau Poker Cup series has been nothing short of amazing in its short three-year history," said Danny McDonagh, PokerStars Macau operations manager. "The excitement over the Asia Player of the Year race is peaking and that will surely create a thrilling finish in November's MPCC."

The six-day schedule will include ten numbered events that count towards the Asia Player of the Year (APOY) leaderboard. The APOY is awarded each year to the best poker player on the Asia tournament circuit and the 2010 winner will receive a one-year sponsorship with PokerStars Macau.

Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu is currently ranked number one but the title is up for grabs as anyone in the Top 50 has a realistic chance to surpass him. Amongst Wu's competitors chasing after Asia's most prestigious poker award are fellow PokerStars Pros Bryan Huang and Celina Lin, ranked 2nd and 15th respectively.

"The MPCC is what a finale should be; longer tournament schedule, bigger fields and larger prize pools," said Lin. "My goals change from year to year but there's no doubt I'm giving my best to win Asia Player of the Year. I'm fortunate to be in position to compete for the title again."

Macau will be the ideal destination come Halloween as the MPCC is surrounded by the MPCC Warm-ups and APPT Cebu. The Warm-ups take place from October 25 to 31 and features the HKD $5,000 buy-in MPCC Warm-ups Event which will count towards the APOY leaderboard. After the completion of MPCC, players can take a short flight to the Philippines to participate in APPT Cebu from November 12-16 at the beautiful Shangri-La Mactan resort.

Other MPCC highlights will include the HKD $50,000 buy-in 6-Handed High Roller event on November 6. Players will love the extremely deep structure in the tournament that has a start bank of 50,000 chips to allow skilled players all the artistry that No Limit Holdem has to offer.

On November 7, the Tournament of Champions will pit Asia's best players against each other. Qualifying champions for the event will include winners from 2010 as well as former Red Dragon and MPCC Main Event winners which include Team PokerStars Pros Raymond Wu and Celina Lin; PokerStars sponsored players Devan Tang, Kenichi Takarabe, Victor Chen, and Kitty Kuo; Macau Millions winner Justin Chan; and reigning Red Dragon champion James McCarty. PokerStars Macau has added HKD $50,000 in the prize pool to sweeten the pot.

Players can qualify for free to the Macau Poker Cup Championship on PokerStars.net. Go to "Events" tab, and then click "Macau".